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Beowulf

The vicious monster, Grendel, crouched down rubbing his grimy hands together, his yellow eyes gleaming, plotting his next attack on the innocent citizens of Heorot. What is his motivation? Is it instinct? Blood thirst? In the case of the sea monsters, that Beowulf slayed in his swimming match with Breca, is their motivation the same as what fuels Grendel and his mother's hatred? This idea of evil could present a foreshadow of malice and scorn, both of which play parts in the poem, Beowulf.

Racing through the waters, neck and neck are Beowulf and Breca. A hostile creature lies below awaiting a human appetizer. He roars and shoots out of the crest of the wave to make a snap at Beowulf. Beowulf turns and strikes at the hideous monster only to find that more appear. Breca, far ahead by now, conquers many travesties as well, though not as many as Beowulf. It is said that Breca came about the stronger man; on the contrary, he fought fewer monsters than Beowulf. Beowulf's loss provoked the questioning by Unferth along with his jealousy of having someone be more accomplished than he. " ' Are you the Beowulf who took on Breca/ in a swimming match on the open sea,/ risking the waters just to prove that you could win?/ You waded in, embracing the water,/ and then he out-swam you,/ came ashore the stronger contender/' " (page 35, lines 506-518). What is Unferth's jealousy a sign of? Maybe a foreshadow of future disagreement and war? That lies in the hands of the God-cursed Grendel, planning attack on the unsuspecting people.

As he was earlier, Grendel plans his encounter with the Danes. He carefully plans his purpose and his strike upon the soldiers lying asleep in their beds. He crept up to the doors of the castle, " the iron-braced door/ turned on its hinge when his hands touched it/ " (page 49 lines 721-722). The outlier bent over in rage, screaming at the top of his lungs, destroying anything in his path. The fire blazed inside of him, awaiting the so-called heroic...

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...Grendals Deeper Meaning
“In off the moors, down through the mist-bands, God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping” (Beowulf Lines 710-11). In this way the anonymous author of the epic Beowulf poem offers us a glimpse of the blood-chilling monster Grendel just before he attacks the mead-hall of Heorot. Leaving terror in his wake, Grendel ranges out from the wild swamps of Scandinavia with the express intention of seeking out men and doing them harm. But who is Grendel? On one level, Grendel is an original spin-off of Frankenstein's Creature, worthy to take his place among the terrifying monsters who inhabit the world of fiction. Yet, like Frankenstein's Creature, Grendel is more than just an inhuman monster with no symbolic meaning. He is a symbol of the jealousy and hate that seeks to destroy others' happiness and can ultimately cripple a civilization.
The physical description of Grendel is vague, an indication that his fictional existence in time and space is less important than the idea that he represents. The author of the poem has described Grendel just enough to show us that while misshapen and abhorrent, Grendel is not really alien to the race of men. The text indicates that he is essentially human in form. Huge and misshapen, but having “hands,” “arms” (Lines 833, 835), and a mother who is familiar enough with tools to use a dagger (L 1545-6). What places him solidly in the role of a human, albeit, disfigured, is his relation to Cain....

...In the classic epic Beowulf we follow the great hero from his time as a young boy to his final moments as King of the Geats. During this many traits of various characters are revealed to us, none however as in depth as what is revealed about the titular figure of Beowulf. This is done through a jumble of Pagan and Christian values that are being bounced between throughout the text. Many of his ‘softer’ virtues such as forgiveness, generosity and commitment, seem to stem primarily from the Christian values whereas his ‘harsher’ virtues such as bravery, resourcefulness, and determination seem to stem more from the Pagan/ Germanic values. This conflict stems directly from the era in which this epic was written. During a time when Christianity was still growing, people new to it were torn between this newfangled ideology and the old customs, a struggle that is persistent throughout Beowulf.
Shortly after our hero arrives he is brought before Hrothgar to explain his intentions. It is here that that the struggle between the two ideologies is apparent. Initially we are shown the Pagan notion of bravery and bravado. Beowulf says:
I have heard moreover that the monster scorns
in his reckless way to use weapons;
therefore, to heighten Hygelac’s
fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce
sword and shelter of the broad shield,
the heavy war board: hand to hand is how it will be, a life and death
fight with the...

...Professor Pamela Main
English 131
March 2, 2013
Beowulf: Epic Hero and Ruler
Beowulf displays true courage and valor and as characterized in the epic poem is arguably the ideal epic hero and ruler. He is described as having superhuman strength, which is seen countless times within the text of the epic poem. He is designed to be the perfect character, demonstrating zero flaws.Really? He is fearless, brave and full of courage even when faced with the threat of death. Aside from being a great and victorious warrior, Beowulf is shown to be a perfect leader as he brings prosperity and riches to his kingdom. His success as a king also reveals him to be wise as well as strong. Beowulf is one who is idolized by his people, and his final battle with the dragon is an example of his selflessness and drive to be honorable even while facing death. For these reasons, I consider Beowulf to be an ideal ruler for his time.
Obtaining honor was not easily achievable in Beowulf’s time, yet he attained this trait as he became well known and respected for his great accomplishments and feats. Those who knew him respected him. Beowulf is not necessarily the typical epic poem hero, as his only power was his brute strength. It was this brute strength and his drive to keep his honor and remain noble that earned him so many followers, in turn making him a great ruler who would lead through example...

...Anul I
RE
BeowulfBeowulf is the oldest epic poem in the English language. It was written in Old English, the language of the Saxons. In the 19th century the poem began to be called by the name of its Scandinavian hero. Historical elements run through the poem, but both the hero and the story are fiction. The poem was composed between the 8th and the 11th centuries. The text exists in only one manuscript which dates from about the year 1000. The manuscript was burned in 1731. Kevin S. Kiernan, one of the world's foremost Beowulf scholars, has studied the manuscript. In this volume he presented his novel conclusions about the date of Beowulf. This volume will be a must read English history and literature. Handwriting style reveals that it was inscribed by two different people.
[pic]
(The manuscript)
Beowulf was written in Old English, what is more different from Modern English.
The next boxes contain the opening lines of the poem in the original version and a translation:
|Hwæt. We Gardena in gear-dagum, |What. We of the Spear-Danes in |
| | old days |
|þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon. |of the people-kings, power heard. |...

...According to Campbell, “[o]ther [monomyths] string a number of independent cycles into a single series (as in the Odyssey).” (Campbell, 246) In Beowulf, the poet has sent Beowulf on his journey of the monomyth. However, like Csmpbell has written, Beowulf’s journey consist of three miniature monomyths that can be connected into one hero’s journey that take several decades of his life to complete.
In the first cycle, consider Beowulf’s initial call to adventure. King Hrothgar was in desperate need of a hero to rid of is curse, Grendel, that terrorizes his people in the Mead Hall. Capbell writes, “[w]ith the personifications of his destiny to guide him, the hero goes forward until he comes to the ‘threshold guardian.’” (Campbell, 77) He claims “that there is a benign power supporting him in his superhuman passage.” (Campbell, 97) Recall the incredibly fierce storm in the sea Beowulf and the Geats had to endure on their journey that should swallowed them whole. Campbell claims that there are forces beyond the hero that guide him to his destiny. Upon arrival, Beowulf and his thanes are confronted at Heorot by the first threshold guardian. Here, according to Campbell, the hero must “defeat or conciliate” the guardian in order for the true adventure to begin. Beowulf conciliates the watchman to take him and his thanes to the Mead Hall. From there, Beowulf falls into the next step of the...

...﻿
Oral or Written: A Look into Beowulf
There have been many scholarly opinions over the years regarding Beowulf and its claim to be an oral versus a written work. During the time Beowulf was set most literature was oral and not written. Although it still does not prove that Beowulf was an oral work, the strong oral underpinnings, such as the mnemonic base, as well as the narrative sequence, provides a solid argument that Beowulf was an orally composed poem.
The use of epithets in Beowulf is one of the techniques that suggest that it is an oral work. Epithets provide descriptions of the qualities of some of the story's characters. They were also used as fillers in oral poetry. “I have never seen mead enjoyed more in any hall on earth. Sometimes the queen herself appeared, peace-pledge between the nations, to hearten the young ones and hand out a torque to a warrior, then take her place.” (2015-2019). Here the queen is described as a neutral person in both parties that bring the tribes together. “Hrothgar, protector of the Shieldings, replied:” (371) is another epithet that brings more emphasis to who Hrothgar is as a character.
Another mnemonic technique used to suggest Beowulf is an oral work is tone. Because most of crowds were men and warriors, the stories often told were about different battles fought and won, or not. If your story was boring, quite naturally no...

...Beowulf
In every culture, there are elements that define the way its society walks, talks, and acts. In Anglo-Saxon culture, there are four main beliefs. These beliefs are expressed in every day life as well as through poetry. Beowulf is an epic poem that was sung in a hall, it brings us back to the 4th century and is exemplary of the past. Beowulf brings a greater overall understanding of Anglo-Saxon culture. The Anglo-Saxons found these values very important, if a soldier embodied all of these values and attained fame, which was all he ever needed. However, in order to attain fame, one needed to abide by the ways of the culture. Among these specific values are heroism, bravery, and loyalty.
An important value in Anglo-Saxon culture is heroism, Beowulf shows his heroism in many of his gallant and courageous feats. In every good romance or princess movie, there is a damsel in distress and the hero that saves her from “sheer death”. In Beowulf everyone is the damsel and Beowulf himself is the hero. The stereotypical hero saves the woman of his dreams, but honestly that’s overrated when one can save the world. One of Beowulf’s mighty feats is killing the evil monster, Grendel, but he has to get to the Danes land before that is even remotely possible: “So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find, The Bravest and Best of the Geats, fourteen In All, and led them...

... Beowulf is a masterpiece that has pillaged and powered through centuries of oral retelling and translating just as the character it vividly illustrates does throughout the epic. Despite being so impressive and entertaining on the surface, the Old English classic embodies something a lot greater, and that is the moral struggle of religion going on at the time. Religion played a huge role in Anglo-Saxon culture for it was what gave the people a reason to live for, it was what motivated people to work to make it through the harsh winters. Even today, it can be seen that people require that extrinsic motivation to work hard and push through obstacles in their path. The dichotomy of Paganism and Christianity at the time is depicted by the tone of the narrator, which subliminally hints at what their own beliefs are, symbols, that accentuate the severity of the dichotomy itself, and allusions as well as foreshadowing, that further the Christian impact on the poem.
The moral ambiguity of the tone is a result of the inner conflict the narrator is facing in depicting pagan characters when being a Christian themselves. The first instance in which the tone relays a sort of lack of faith in Paganism is when the people are being terrorized by Grendel and begin to pray to the pagan gods to harm him. The narrator describes their feeble attempts as fruitless. This part of the text reveals the narrator’s inquisitive attitude towards the pagans...